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RealNetworks To Introduce a Simple DVD Copier
langelgjm writes "The New York Times reports that RealNetworks will begin selling RealDVD today, a software program designed to make copying DVDs a trivial task for the average user. Unlike free alternatives, which generally require some technical knowledge and make it difficult to copy an entire DVD with extras, etc., RealDVD claims to be able to copy the entire DVD, menus and all. While sure to raise the ire of Hollywood, the program does have significant limitations: the DVDs it makes will only be playable on the computer where they were created; or, users can pay $20 per computer to play the DVDs on up to five additional computers."
Worst Slashvertisement ever!
Football Odds
Even though it will have limitations to make the DVDs playable on a limited number of computers, the fact that the software cost you money and it isn't open source, because this sort of thing usually spawns free alternatives. I mean, it's not really rocket science to make a software that creates DVDs, but inspiration to make easy to use alternatives is needed.
If it won't produce something that will play on a standard stand-alone DVD player, then IT'S NOT A DVD AND THIS IS NOT A "DVD Copier." This is just a ripper that adds an annoying layer of DRM to the files (umm...no thanks). And you get to pay for the privilege, no less. Woo hoo!
There are any number of one-button DVD rippers that are just as good, just as simple, and produce an actual DVD. And many of them are free. DVDfab is just one example. It produces an actual DVD, it's as simple as it gets to use, and it doesn't cost a dime (unless you want the premium version).
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
"the DVDs it makes will only be playable on the computer where they were created"
Doesn't this make it *not* an actual DVD, but rather an encoded video on a disc that just happens to be shaped like a DVD with the capacity of a DVD? Kind of like how all those DRM'd CDs can't actually be called "compact discs" because they don't adhere to the red book standard?
Let me know when this DVD copier actually lets me copy DVDs that can be played on a DVD Player.
Those who believe the Internet is private,
find their privates are on the Internet.
People who want hassle-free DVD copying are usually the ones that like to watch DVDs in a DVD player, sitting on the couch of their living rooms. Why? Because they are not very computer literate (or can't be bothered, doesn't matter which).
Make It Secret Protect your privacy
AnyDVD + DVD shrink is brain dead easy to use if you really want to copy all the crap on the DVD.
Want just the movie on your laptop use handbrake. easy as pie.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
DVD copying has been trivial for many years now with DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter. I'm sure there's already other programs out there that are even easier to use.
There are better, non-crippleware solutions.
whether the buffer will run out while burning..
So, from the studios' point of view, not only is this facilitating piracy, but RealNetworks is profiting by it? That sounds like a real winner.
This might be explained in TFA but I don't have time to Bugmenot the NYTimes right now.
End of lesson. You may press the button.
I'm assuming they get by the legality of selling it by stating it is for use for the single copy you are allowed to make. Still, I'm sure they'll see some pressure from the content providers.
Most "average" users I know play they're dvds on their tvs, not their computers. I hope they explicitly state only plays on a computer on the label, or a lot of average customers will be rather annoyed.
Finally, I remember something about dvd shrink (which is extremely easy for average users when used with dvd-decrypter, though not legal in the us) may be actually legal in the EU since CSS does not effectively protect the content. Here is a link to one of the articles. Any way we can push this through in the US?
in 3....2....1....
It uses DRM. No way can it be simple.
Insert Disk, start DVDDecrypter, hit "Go", burn iso to disk...
Of course DVDDecrypter is not exactly legal these days. Which is a shame, because it strips all that nasty region coding and other crap out of the image as it goes along.
...violate the DCMA, regardless of the limitations? It cracks encryption without permission of the copyright holder...
/.ers and say that I think that the title is deceptive- when people think of DVD movies, they think of movies that will play in their car or living room, not in a limited number of computers.
Even so, I'll agree with other
Attempting to bilk people for $30 software that makes a DRM'd copy of a movie just isn't going to fly when free and non-free tools already exist that rip DVDs to any format you like. Especially when Real Networks is reknowned for producing bloated spyware laced crap. If you want to go free, find DVD Decrypter & Handbrake and you can rip and encode movies suitable for a variety of formats and devices. If you want non-free then use AnyDVD and Nero Recode. The tools are not as simple as they could be but they work and they work extremely well.
"the DVDs it makes will only be playable on the computer where they were created" - i.e., they are not copies of the original DVD's, and probably not DVD's at all.
Looks like a completely useless product, and the fact that it got Slashvertised shows that some people have no sense of shame at all.
The people who made the movies, or the software creators?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Two step process for me. Mac The Ripper to decrypt/rip the entire DVD (menus and all) to a VIDEO_TS folder on my hard drive. Insert CD, click a button. Not too technical.
From there I can use VLC to play it as much as I want on any computer I copy it to. Can have a large HD full of complete DVDs immediately accessible. (and there are apps that will jukebox them for you)
From there I have to use a commercial app like Roxio's Toast to burn it to a physical CD, that works in a real DVD player. But Toast has always been a very good product, worth the coin. Drag and drop the VIDEO_TS folder into Toast and click burn. Only slightly more technical procedure than MTR.
Did I mention MTR strips out the NOOPs ("operation not permitted" when trying to FF past the FBI warning etc) and also removes region coding, during the rip?
Who on earth would pay for REALcrap?
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Really doesn't seem like an efficient way to go about trying to be competitive in the digital content market... maybe if they were giving away software that let you do what it does, with an online store to download... oh right, ITunes, the product they're trying to compete with... I'm gonna go with this product being screwed from the get-go.
Never disregard the raw power inherent to stupidity... they call it "dumb luck" for a reason...
that involved publishing a product in order to get sued into oblivion.
Of course. That would actually be useful. Can't do that...the movie studios/MPAA would get all upset.
Guess I'll have to keep doing it myself...
I would rather dive into a swimming pool full of Ebola, triple-edged razor blades, lemon juice, and pig doots than use any software from that "R" named firm.
Every time I've been stupid and downloaded their crap, thinking, "it used to be sooooo bad, any improvement would be a treeemendous improvement", I've had to delete it within the hour. Way too much glop in there.
DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink. How hard is it, really?
I could teach my wife to do that in about five minutes. As an added bonus, it's free, it removes region protection, it removes UOP's (possibly the most annoying part of the DVD format to most people), keeps all the menus, shrinks it onto the cheaper single-layer DVD-R's with virtually zero visible difference and it doesn't have silly restrictions. A program with silly restrictions to stop a particular format from having silly restrictions?
I just backed up a couple of my boxsets using this because they were slightly damaged when we took them on holiday with us and I don't want to pay for them again if we do damage them. The majority of the time was spent looking at a little window wending its way through the DVD and swapping discs (I only had the one DVD-writer drive plugged in at the time and had to swap original for blank constantly).
I even did it using WINE because the PC with the writer was a home Linux server, and it worked perfectly. I very much doubt you could make it THAT much simpler, except possibly joining the two programs together and incurring the wrath of the DVD industry by doing so (does this software strip region-protection? It doesn't mention it).
I can't see anybody using this... people "in-the-know" enough to distinguish between DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM etc. and who know that this "is possible" are probably already doing it. I can't even get my parents to copy their CD's before they scratch them and that's a one-click operation. I can't see them doing it for their DVD's even if it's a one-click operation with this software. And, to be honest, I'd rather show them the "two-click" method that gets rids of the UOPS because that would astound them and they would kill to have that feature on their existing DVD's.
When's the last time Real mattered? They chose the wrong path a long, long time ago and something as stupid as an automatic DRM inserter doesn't get them headed in the right direction. This company seems to have no clue about the realities of digital content use and management.
Unlike free alternatives, which generally require some technical knowledge and make it difficult to copy an entire DVD with extras, etc.,...
What??? Maybe you're right.. there are a ton of steps..
Using DVDShrink and CDBurnerXP. Steps to copy a disk:
1) Insert DVD.
2) Launch DVDShrink.
3) Select Open Disc.
4) Select Backup.
5) Choose Backup location (make note of this location).
6) When complete, exit DVDShrink.
7) Launch CDBurnerXP.
8) Select Burn Disc from ISO.
9) Eject the source DVD and insert a blank DVD.
10) Select the source ISO.
11) Press Burn.
12) Wait
Actual time outside of the wait is about 20 seconds of real work.. Of course, I've listed EVERY step. If I detailed how to save a file in Notepad it would take quite a few steps...
1) Wait until the computer boots.
2) Click on Start.
3) Click on All Programs.
4) Click on Accessories.
5) Click on Notepad.
6) Type your message into the editing window.
7) Click on File.
8) Click on Save.
9) When prompted, select a location to save your file.
10) Press OK. (or SAVE)
11) Select File.
12) Select Exit.
They're still around?
Slysofts AnyDVD (perhaps combined with their CloneDVD)can already very easily do that job for you backing up your DVD's to 1-1 images - if DVD-shrink or DVD-Decrypter fails to do the job. That one can also back up HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs with an extra add-on package (which all is allowed for personal backups in Denmark where I live). I like those the most cause they make 1-1 images than aren't compressed and they are really easy to use. Just click rip DVD/DISC to image (or files if you would like so). And AnyDVD does the job on an old P-4 2.4 Ghz with 1 gig ram and XP Pro to a USB disk I have in 16-30 minutes per DVD.
What kind of dog barks "BOFH! BOFH!"? A rootweiler of course...
I mean really? These grossly incompetent idiots are still in business? I mean I cant have possibly been the only person to uninstall real player and avoid anything of theirs and never look back no starting years ago?
And this has been another installament of Captain Obvious!
The NYT article got it wrong re handbrake (http://handbrake.fr). Handbrake does not decrypt the DVD. You have to do that elsewhere. Handbrake only rencodes it, to MP4, for example.
This is what the article actually says:
"The software, which will go on sale on Real.com and Amazon.com this month, will allow buyers to make one copy of a DVD".
Does not say it will be on sale today.
Don't Vote for Norm Dicks! http://www.nodicks2008.com Another nutless dirtbag that voted for the FISA bill!
This is a joke right?
As if their crummy media player wasn't doing the job fast enough I guess they figure they could accelerate things by gaining the ire of the MPAA.
Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
I know, the sins of using linux, but...
vobcopy to rip (encrypted? so what? extras? no problem). One command, one step, one rip
all content remains, no shrinking, etc. The result can be:
- played using xine (complete with menus, etc.)
- burned using k3b and then played in any player
This whole "article" is slashvertisement vs head-in-sand
ripping (albeit normally with shrinking) is commonplace. movies get traded in the workplace (and I'm not talking about IT -- I haven't seen any of this where I work, but my friends in non-IT work do it all the time).
The studios are still trying to pretend that the genie isn't out of the bottle. I discovered the existence of RCE recently. Too bad for the studios it doesn't affect my multiregion player. The improved DRM of HD-DVD and bluray are too little, too late. On Usenet there are bluray rips posted all the time. (I know, I just violated the first rule of Usenet...)
When there are plenty of progs that will rip in to free open standard formats like DivX.
I want to rip my paid for DVDs and then dump them on my media server, ready for serving up on either the PCs, TV ( via console ) or pocket media players while down the garden.
Summary neglects to say whether it runs on Linux. Not that I'm willing to lock my entertainment to one device anyway, as I have three different video technologies in the house already.
I fail to see DVD copying could be done simpler than with k9copy.
Insert DVD, click "make DVD copy", wait, done.
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
I just copied one the VTS____.vob files from the VIDEO_TS of a commercial DVD to my hard disk. I then played it with VLC player. Was this supposed to be hard?
Organization: alphabetical, sometimes numerical or messy
The more interesting product is this one.
1998 Called.
It wants it's FUD back.
The Linux tools are just as good as the Windows and Mac
tools in this regard. You can have any degree of GUI
shiny happiness you want.
You can even do this stuff straight from you couch in MythTV.
Does MCE support that?
Don't lie, I have a copy. (need to install proper code support for it, oddly enough)
As far as TV Series collections go: a cobbled together solution is better than none at all.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
Hello, CD copier guy?
1994 just called. It says your market window is closing.
You can use k3b to copy the DVD to an ISO, then use mplayer or xine, to play the ISO just like a DVD. Two step process, very simple.
Its not going to be long before _somebody_ figures out how to modify it in-memory before its been burned (or even after its been burned, via ISO modificaiton) to remove a shitty DRM.
And my _grandmother_ can use DVDShrink. its scary.
From TFA: "While sure to raise the ire of Hollywood, the program does have significant limitations: the DVDs it makes will only be playable on the computer where they were created; or, users can pay $20 per computer to play the DVDs on up to five additional computers."
So, it does NOT create standard DVDs. Right? Meh. I'll stick to DVDShrink, thanks.
So easy even a caveman could do it
I'm sure that Real would prefer to pretend that SlySoft doesn't exist.
Better luck next time...
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies
How do RealNetworks stay in business? Are they secretly funded by Microsoft as a distraction? A front for CIA? What the heck is going on?
I look forward to the advertising campaign:
'Hey there, do you find the region encoding and DRM on DVD not restrictive or costly enough? Here at RealNetworks we have the answer to your prayers! Order today and we will double the price _and_ infect you with Hepatitis C!'
They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
THEN I drop the VIDEO_TS folder into Handbrake. It puts a lot less wear and tear on your DVD Drive's motor and the over-all rip/conversion time is about the same.
I use MacTheRipper to time-shift Netflix rentals and get the most out of my 2-discs at a time membership. (I also have the $99 Roku player and stream old TV shows almost every night, but that's a tale for another thread.) MactheRipper rips to a folder (named after the DVD's Label) directly into my "Movies" folder, and Front Row treats it like a regular DVD.
I get a DVD and mail back a DVD 4-6 days per week.
I personally use dvd fab, and very happy with it for backup purposes.
But what I really would like to find is a dvd ripper that will also convert to mpeg 4 - but in addition keep all of the extras. Allow me to play that off my media server, and keep the controls.
You gotta love the state of modern capitalism.
"Mr. Johnson, the consumers aren't adopting our products!"
"Well, what can we do?!?!"
"Perhaps instead of selling anything or contributing anything of value, we could undermine other products that act as direct competitors."
"Isn't that, like, illegal?"
"Fuck no. We live in a world where the rules make Ayn Rand look like a fuckin' pinko mole!"
"Cool. Let's do it. WAIT!"
"What now?"
"What if someone does this to out product? Like, say a group of kids introduces a system that allows people to completely bypass our shitty formats and our worthless player?"
"Aw, hell, boss. We'll sue them so bad their parents will have to sell the basement they code in."
"Excellent."
I scream. You scream. I assume that means we're both acquainted with the problem. We proceed.
While we're on the subject, is there any way to transcode DVDs to divx with a .avi container on linux systems?
I'm trying to create .avi files similar to what I can download from torrents that will play on a DVD player that can also play Ultra Divx files. (see this player: http://www.amazon.com/Philips-DVP5140-Multiformat-Windows-Support/dp/B000F2KUK8/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1220573310&sr=8-1 )
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
The studios and copyright holders have it all wrong, in my opinion. Instead of charging $20 for a movie with all kinds of copy protection that doesn't prevent piracy (the pirates will ALWAYS find a way around copy protection), they should take Steve Jobs' approach (where do you put the apostrophe on a name that ends with "s"?). Charge $5 for a movie on a media that contains all the copy protection in the world. Charge $20 for the same movie on a media that has NO copy protection. The average viewer doesn't have the technical prowess to copy either type of movie so it doesn't matter anyway. The low price for a movie will mean that it won't make sense to pirate some crappy quality movie and waste the time downloading and burning it onto a disc, so most viewers won't bother; they'll just pay the $5 and purchase it legitimately. For those who feel that non-DRM is somehow better, they'll pay $20. And for those who are going to pirate the movies anyway just because they feel they need a library of 10,000 movies they'll never get around to watching, well, what difference does it make? Suppose they copy the movie. Even if it were NOT available for easy copying, chances are they would NOT shell out any money, even if it were a penny, to buy the movie legitimately. So the studios don't really lose money in this case. Yes, an additional copy of the movie was made and they weren't paid for it, but they wouldn't have been paid for it even if the copy were not made. In other words, make the movies cheap to buy legitimately and the majority of the population won't bother to pirate them because there won't be any incentive to do so. Chances are the studios will make more profit even though the price per unit is lower because more movies will be sold. Would you pay $3 to rent a movie when you can buy your own copy for $5? Would you bother to burn a copy from a friend that costs $1 for the disc, more if the burn fails a bunch of times and you have to re-do it, and waste the time bothering with it and jumping through all the hoops to make a watchable disc? No way! You'd just drop five bucks and get the damn movie!! I think it's a win-win. Any economist will tell you that when prices are higher, demand is lower and vice versa.
McCain/Palin '08. Now THAT's hope and change!
does MCE support that?
mine does
I can use MyMovies (which is a free plugin) to do exactly that, and while doing the rip, it will connect to the MyMovies online database (which is several orders of magnitude better than imdb, amazon, et al) to pull down all of the information about the movies as well.
I think RealBuffering, Inc. is using a team of chimpanzees for their business development unit.
They are selling a shit product that no one wants and tricking users into thinking it's good, though I can't even think of anyone who still thinks realplayer is good.
They are a shit company who sells shit products and they are irrelevant to anyone who isn't completely ignorant.
They're using their grammar skills there.
Not only is he correct, but he knows the original/real words that DVD stands for.
Has RealNetworks finally figured out that lock-in protection schemes (such as the ones they were so fond of implementing in their RA products), are useless and instead are looking for some new way to make money at someone else's expense? Looks like a desperate move to keep themselves afloat...
a graphical shell around dd
I want to be able to simply copy my kids' copies of Baby Einstein and Thomas the Tank Engine. I want to be able to modify the content so that: Production and Distributor promos are gone. FBI warning is gone. Menu is gone. Essentially, I want my kids to be able to stick the damn thing in the player and have it play and have it stop playing when it is over. Essentially, I want to turn the DVD into a VHS tape. -- Stick it in and forget about it.
...because it competes with piracy-friendly alternatives.
The existing software performs the same function whilst making piracy easy: it's a simple step from ripping to your movie library to giving a friend a copy. If those people instead use RealDVD, the purchaser gets to do what they wanted with the movie they paid for, but the avenue for piracy is removed.
The net effect is to increase consumer satisfaction while competing with piracy. Unfortunately the movie industry seem opposed to doing either, instead opting to pay good money in order to diminish customer satisfaction with DRM and bludgeon piracy with lawyers.
#!/bin/sh /dev/dvd=stream.dvd &&
rm stream.dvd
mkfifo -m 666 stream.dvd &&
sleep 1
dd if=/dev/dvd1 of=stream.dvd &
sleep 1
growisofs -dvd-compat -Z
I call it 'dupedvd', /dev/dvd1 is the reader and /dev/dvd the writer. 'Sleep' keeps fast machines from tripping over themselves.
their products are all bloated with adware... and since when was copying an entire dvd difficult? dvdShrink takes all of 4 clicks to copy an entire dvd, menus and all, and two of those clicks are opening the shortcut on your desktop!
-- Sex is the antonym of pringles. Once you pop it's time to stop.
I use the lovely program dd on my macbook pro to copy dvd, works great the only problem is that you cant eject a cd after you used the other great program, umount.
Well, if it turns out that RealDVD works legally, then that would be a reason to use RealDVD, given that most if not all of the free alternatives are illegal.
IANAL, but I can kind of see how RealDVD might turn out to be legal, while the free options aren't. The free options mostly involve unauthorized DeCSS (a possible exception might be products that capture the output of licensed DVD player software), thereby violating the DMCA. RealDVD could, however, do what I understand Kaleidescope did: use a legally licensed DeCSS from the DVD-CCA folks, and then, because of a loophole in the DVD-CCA licensing, capture the decrypted video to a hard drive for playing back later. In effect, the claim could be that the computer running RealDVD becomes a complex DVD player with delayed playback--it decrypts DVDs perfectly legally using a licensed DeCSS, and then plays back the decrypted output later, using a DVD-R as an intermediary.
I would have thought the DVD-CCA people would have closed this loophole in their licensing after the Kaleidescope case, but maybe RealNetworks got a license earlier or something.
You know... I don't have a lot of confidence in something
named "movies" to be very accomodating to those of us that
might have 70 or 80 TV boxed sets sitting on the shelf.
NONE of their examples seem to include what I am talking about.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
Sounds like Drive-In from Flip4Mac http://www.flip4mac.com/drivein.htm
-dhan
I can see your point, but anything I own on DVD I'd have already downloaded and burned-- no ripping necessary.
While I *do* end up buying the stuff I like, I find downloading first and buying second to be a much better system for me than buying first and realizing it sucks second.
Until comcast decides to come light me on fire, I'll continue to let my digital army of highschool-aged toadies do the ripping for me, thanks much.
Just a few programs that can do the same, very easily:
DVDShrink (free)
RatDVD (free?)
CloneDVD (commercial)
Combine any of these with AnyDVD, or DVD43 (free) and you can rip or copy just about any disc in a matter of minutes.
Throw in AutoGK and you can convert them to AVI with very little effort.
If you're willing to install absolutely horrible software, Nero does it too, as long as you have AnyDVD or DVD43 to break the CSS encryption. This RealDVD app is very very late, they should have released it six years ago.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
Posting this article on slashdot its obviously a troll action.